The Ambrosius Twins
by roseannacharlotte
Summary: Lady Hunith is the sister of Lady Vivienne and both are priestesses of the Old Religion. Merlin and Morgana are the twins of Hunith and Balinor who were married and lived in Camelot before Arthur's birth. Arthur knows Merlin before he comes to Camelot due to sharing dreams with him and others who might just be important to their destiny.
1. Prologue: The Dreamwoods

Lady Hunith and Lady Vivienne rode furiously through the night. Dragonlord Balinor, who Lady Hunith had wed not two years ago, was also fleeing for his life. Ever since the queen of Camelot had died, King Uther had been persecuting all those with magic or who were associated with it. Balinor was the only dragonlord still living. With the help of an old friend of Lady Hunith, Balinor had managed to escape Camelot's dungeons and return home to spend one last night with his wife before they both left, heading apart, perhaps never seeing each other again. Lady Hunith's sister had been visiting and went with her to help her settle into her new life as a peasant. Uther would never think to look for such a fine lady in a peasant village outside Camelot. When dawn broke the two ladies reached a village where they had agreed to meet with Balinor's sister, Lady Nimueh, who had Lady Vivienne's daughter Morgause in her care. Lady Vivienne's husband was a good friend of the king and it would be safer for Morgause not to be in the king's presence. Just in case. Better safe than sorry after all. The three high priestesses of the old religion entered the town on foot and purchased clothing suitable for peasants, course and dull, very different from the fine silk dresses they had worn at court. Having sold the horses the three women continued walking on across the border until they reached a village called Ealdor. Once there the women used their skills to construct a house right on the edge of the village and to make the villagers believe the house and its inhabitants had always been there. Life in Ealdor was peaceful and the three women quickly adapted to their new lives as peasants. However, when they had been living there for two months it was discovered that Hunith was pregnant. Since the women were all claiming to be unmarried she received some censure from the other villagers. Hunith didn't care though. Hunith gave birth, seven months later, to twins. One boy and one girl. With the help of her sisters, the mother chose names for her children – Merlin and Morgana. Then the new-borns opened their eyes. Morgana's eyes were the colour of grass when the rain has just fallen, Merlin's were like an ocean. Suddenly Merlin's eyes were as golden as the ring Hunith kept hidden beneath her dress. The three high priestesses stared at each other in shock and awe. Only one person could have magic at such a young age – Emrys.

* * *

Growing up with the knowledge that you're the most powerful warlock ever to walk the earth and that you're immortal could make one rather arrogant. Luckily for the prophesised Emrys, whose actual name was Merlin, his friends were always willing to knock him down a peg or two if he started to get too big for his boots. The peculiar thing about Merlin's friends was that he'd only actually met one of them in real life. Will was Merlin's next door neighbour and their mothers were good friends. The boys spent every waking moment together.

The rest of Merlin's friends, well, that was complicated. It had started on Merlin's fifth birthday, when he'd gone to bed. He had been dreaming that he was walking through beautiful woods when he saw a girl about his age. She even looked like him though her eyes were green whereas his were blue. She was sat on the stump of a fallen tree weeping quietly and didn't seem to have noticed Merlin.

"Why are you crying?" Merlin asked with all the tact of a five-year-old boy. The girl stopped crying and looked up at him.

"I'm crying because it's my birthday," she told him. Merlin was rather confused by that.

"But birthdays should make you happy. Mine does. Oh, it's my birthday today too! Do you want to have a party?"

"But there aren't any other guests."

"Doesn't matter. We can have a party just the two of us." Forgetting his mother's warnings about using magic in front of others, Merlin waved his hand causing his eyes to turn momentarily gold and a picnic blanket appeared laden with food of all descriptions.

"How did you do that?" the girl asked in awe.

"Umm, well, I, I'm sort of like, well, possibly the most powerful warlock ever."

"Emrys?"

"Yes. How did…" Merlin was cut off as the girl threw herself at him and flung her arms round him. Caught off balance the little warlock fell onto the blanket, confused at the girl's actions.

"What are you doing?" he asked her at the same moment as she spoke his name in a pleased tone. Suddenly everything clicked into place.

"Morgana?" The girl nodded, too chocked up to speak anymore. Merlin returned the hug fiercely.

The reunion was suddenly interrupted by a popping sound. Will stood across the clearing looking around in utter confusion.

"Will!" Merlin exclaimed in delight. "Come and meet Morgana. She's my twin sister and we're going to have a birthday party. You can be a guest."

"You don't have a sister Merlin." Will spoke with confusion.

"She's a secret," Merlin told his friend.

"Why?" questioned Will, who couldn't understand the need to keep a sister a secret.

Before Merlin could explain exactly who he actually was to his best friend another popping sound was heard. The three children turned to see a blonde boy with a rather haughty expression stood on the other side of the clearing to them.

"Who are you?" the boy demanded to know.

"Who are you?" retorted Merlin in annoyance.

A third popping sound announced the appearance of a third boy, this one older than the others were. His hair was brown and curly.

"Leon, where are we? Who are they?" the arrogant blonde boy asked the new arrival.

"I don't know Prince Arthur," replied Leon. 'Prince Arthur' could only be one person, Merlin realised. Uther Pendragon's son.

More popping noises herald the arrival of others, four boys and a girl. The girl is clearly the sister of one of the boys. Leon apparently knows the girl and her brother.

"What is happening?" demands Prince Arthur.

"I think this is a dream. Somehow we're all sharing a dream," replied Merlin.

"That's not possible," scoffed the prince.

"It's magic," retorted the warlock.

"Father says magic is evil," Arthur stated with the slightly uncertain tone of someone who isn't quite sure if they believe what they've just been told.

"He's lying," Merlin told the prince. "He made a deal with a sorceress and it didn't go the way he wanted so he's killing anyone with magic because he's angry."

"Oh." The prince looked thoughtful. "How do you know that anyway?"

"My mum and dad used to live in Camelot Castle but they had to leave because they had magic."

"Do you have magic?" Merlin gave a terse nod.

"Tell me about it. Please," the prince added as an afterthought. Merlin guessed he probably wasn't used to saying please.

"Alright." Everyone gathered around Merlin and sat down on the rug he'd conjured earlier. Morgana handed out the picnic food. Whilst everyone ate the party picnic, Merlin told them everything he knew about magic, and about being Emrys.

After that, the ten children met in the dream woods every night. These were the friends of Emrys and he would do anything for them.


	2. Chapter 1: Merlin in Camelot

Chapter One: Merlin in Camelot

Morgana let out a sigh. An execution was about to take place. The man to be executed had used magic to repair a cart wheel. It was wrong! Uther was wrong!

Morgana knew that magic wasn't evil. She knew this because her aunt, Lady Vivienne, who had told everyone Morgana was her own daughter, was a high priestess of the old religion. She had taught Morgana all about magic before she died of a fever when Morgana was seven years old. Morgana had wished she could have gone to live with her mother and twin brother, or even her aunt Nimueh, but since they were in hiding she could not do so.

Instead when her uncle Gorlois died in battle several years after his wife's death, King Uther had become her guardian. At least his son, Arthur, didn't share the king's opinion on magic. Merlin had been teaching Arthur the truth about magic in their dreams.

Lady Morgana crossed to her window and looked out as she heard her guardian begin his bigoted speech. A figure in the crowd caught her eye. She had seen him many times, though never in the flesh, so she recognised his messy raven hair and piercing blue eyes immediately. Her brother was in Camelot!

Morgana was so excited she barely noticed the executed man's mother's anguished cries. Turning from the window, Morgana hastened through the castle to Gaius's chambers arriving just as her brother saved the old physician's life with magic.

"What did you do?" the physician was clearly panicking. Morgana had never seen Gaius so flustered.

"I didn't do anything" denied Morgana's brother.

The lady stepped forward into the room, clearing her throat to gain both men's attention. Merlin's face broke into an infectious grin as he saw who it was. Gaius, on the other hand, looked as if he was about to pass out from shock. Morgana hurried forward to help the physician into a chair, whilst trying to explain about Merlin being her brother. She had barely managed to tell Gaius it was okay when the door opened again and two knights entered the room; Sir Leon and the prince.

"Merlin!" Arthur seemed unable to stop himself speaking in his astonishment. Leon's jaw was almost hitting the floor. Gaius just looked baffled. His eyebrow was in danger of becoming lost in his hair. Merlin was trying not to laugh and his sister's smile could have lit up the whole of Camelot.

"Sire. Sir Leon." Merlin was the first to remember his manners and greet the two newcomers. Morgana and Gaius quickly murmured their own greeting.

"I think we ought to explain all this to Gaius. He looks rather puzzled by the current circumstances," Leon stated.

"I'll explain," Morgana volunteered, "but we should probably shut and lock the door first. We don't want to be overheard." Once the door had been locked they all sat around the table and Morgana began her story.

_Lady Hunith and Lady Vivienne rode furiously through the night._ _Dragonlord Balinor, who Lady Hunith had wed not two years ago, was also fleeing for his life._ _Ever since the queen of Camelot had died, King Uther had been persecuting all those with magic or who were associated with it.__ Balinor was now the only dragonlord still living. __With the help of an old friend of Lady Hunith, Balinor had managed to escape Camelot__'__s dungeons and return home to spend one last night with his wife before they both left the Dragon lor__d'__s castle forever. _

_Lady Hunith__'__s sister had been visiting her and went with her to help her settle into her new life as a peasant._ _Uther would never think to look for such a fine lady in a peasant village outside Camelot. __When dawn broke the two ladies reached a village where they had agreed to meet with Balinor's sister, Lady Nimueh, who had Lady Vivienne's daughter Morgause in her care._ _Lady Vivienne's husband was a good friend of the king and it would be safer for Morgause not to be in the king's presence._ _Just in case._ _Better safe than sorry after all._

_The three high priestesses of the old religion entered the town on foot and purchased clothing suitable for peasants, course and dull, very different from the fine silk dresses they had worn at court._ _Having sold the horses the three women continued walking on across the border until they reached a village called Ealdor._ _Once there the women used their skills to construct a house right on the edge of the village and to make the villagers believe the house and its inhabitants had always been there._

_Life in Ealdor was peaceful and the three women quickly adapted to their new lives as peasants._ _However, when they had been living there for two months it was discovered that Lady Hunith was pregnant. __Since the women were all claiming to be unmarried she received some censure from the other villagers._ _Hunith didn__'__t care though._

_Hunith gave birth, seven months later, to twins._ _One boy and one girl._ _With the help of her sisters, the mother chose names for her children __–__ Merlin and Morgana._ _Then the new-borns opened their eyes. __Morgana's eyes were the colour of grass when the rain has just fallen, Merlin's were like an ocean._ _Suddenly Merlin__'__s eyes were as golden as the ring Hunith kept hidden beneath her dress._ _The three high priestesses stared at each other in shock and awe._ _Only one person could have magic at such a young age __–__ Emrys._

_The three woman decided to separate__, each taking a child, in order to protect the young warlock. __Lady Nimueh took Morgause to the isle of the blessed to begin her magical training. __Lady Vivienne took Morgana to her home__. __A spell made Lord Gorlois and King Uther forget Lady Vivienne's absence and also made them believe Morgana was Vivienne's daughter. __An unexpected consequence of the spell caused the king to believe he was Morgana's father. __Lady Hunith decided to stay in Ealdor with Merlin._

"Merlin has taught Arthur a lot about magic during our shared dreams and Arthur has agreed to lift the ban on magic once he has been crowned king."

"It's true, Gaius. My father's stance on magic is unjust and cruel. I cannot in good conscience allow a law that I believe to be wrong when I am king." Arthur agreed with his surrogate sister. "But what brings you to Camelot, Merlin? I'm not king yet and if my father found out what you are he'd have you executed straight away."

"You could say," chuckled Merlin, "that destiny brought me here. You could also say it was you Arthur."

"What?"

"Apparently the destiny of Emrys is to protect the Once and Future King. My mother reckons that must be you because of the dream sharing thing so she sent me here. She also said the last dragon is imprisoned below the castle and he'll know for sure if you're the Once and Future King."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go talk to the dragon," Morgana stated. She rose from the table and her brother, the prince and the head knight also rose. The four friends bid farewell to Gaius before walking out the door and through the castle towards the dungeons.

In front of the tunnel that led to the cavern in which the dragon languished, two guards sat playing a game of dice. The four friends and Gwen, who had run into the group on their way through the castle, were careful not to be seen. Merlin used a sleeping spell to put the guards to sleep and the five were able to sneak past them and down the tunnel.

Kilgarrah looked up in confusion as he heard footsteps walking down the tunnel towards his prison. It sounded like five people were making their way towards him. This was unusual. The dragon hadn't had a visitor since the last time Gaius had come eighteen years ago. Who could be visiting the dragon now?

Suddenly the prince of Camelot walked onto the ledge accompanied by one of his knights. The king's ward and her maid were also with them. There was also a random peasant boy with them. _No, _Kilgarrah realised_, this was no peasant boy, this was Emrys._ He also looked a lot like Balinor. And he felt like kin. _Was it possible that Emrys was Balinor__'__s son?_

"Hello. Are you there?" It was Emrys who called out into the vast dark cavern where the dragon was lurking out of sight of the humans. Kilgarrah flew down and settled upon a large boulder facing the ledge they stood upon.

"What brings you here?" Kilgarrah was very confused as to why all these people were already together.

"Well my mother, the high priestess Hunith, thinks Arthur may be the Once and Future King and said you would know if he was or not. Obviously if he is I need to be here in Camelot," replied Emrys.

"Arthur is indeed the Once and Future King but does he know what this means?" the rumbling voice of the dragon questioned the prince.

"I do. Merlin has told me all about the prophecies and the truth of magic. I have already pledged to repeal the ban on magic as soon as I become king. I was unaware that my father had you chained under the castle but I assure you that when I am king you will be free."

"Thank you for your aid Kilgarrah. We should leave before someone finds the guards asleep." The five humans turned and hastened back up the passageway and the dragon was left in solitude again. The promise of freedom felt like a balm against an old wound.


End file.
